Suspending Consciousness
by Hawkflight7
Summary: Whoever said detention was boring? Sequel to Caught after Curfew.
1. Chapter 1

**Suspending Consciousness**

**Summary: Whoever said detention was boring?**

**This is a sequel to Caught after Curfew, because it wouldn't leave me alone. In other words, Detention Time! (sorry for the bad pun) For those that may wonder; ridicati is lift, mintea is mind, and yes I'm aware that I am probably butchering Romanian, blame google. On with the story!**

White words that had been scrawled on the board disappeared with a wave of his wand as he walked across the room to find the notes he had for the next days class plans from a pile of papers. It hardly took anytime as he just summoned them rather than sift through the papers.

The magic eye swiveled across the contents as the ticking of the clock made the only sound in the now quite classroom. It was something he had been listening to since the last class had ended. Mainly because each soft _tick_, meant the time was getting closer for her to be here. To serve detention after her little stunt down in the library.

He considered himself lucky to have been the one to find Miss Granger asleep amid the stacks. Any other Professor here probably would have given her just one day of detention. Hell, McGonagall would have just let her off with a warning or have just told her not to let it happen again. How did these soft adults think that would help with any rule breaking? Regardless if it was intended or not. Snape would have given her a few days worth maybe, but that still wasn't enough in his opinion.

Though his opinion was probably being influenced from the reminder of how soft her hair, skin, and lips had been. The simple image of her illuminated from the candle light still recent in his mind.

He doubted he would be able to touch even a single centimeter of skin on her hand today, or any other day when she was awake for that matter. That was the only part of this he wasn't looking forward too. Unless he was seriously going to consider using a spell, which he was now.

Quite a few came to mind that he could make good use of. Nocte Somnium, a bit of a classic when putting one out for the night, though a little odd for the sleeper. Unless she usually had dreams of the sky. He had no idea, perhaps he could ask, though that would require a more complex spell. After the scare he had given her he suspected he would be getting her classic glare that was usually aimed at the Weasley boys.

Perhaps... a smile slowly formed on his face. He had the perfect spell in mind.

There was a knock at the door and he had to force the smile away just before the door swung open and Hermione walked in.

"Professor." His moveable eye focused on her as he pretended to still be focusing on the papers with his main eye. Her tone of voice hadn't escaped his notice. It was obvious she didn't want to be here, or see why she should be.

The fact that she was talking to him like that quickly grated on his nerves and he set the papers down. "Close the door behind you." There was only a moments pause before he heard the door swing back shut. He had to hold back a chuckle at how easy this was turning out to be. Pretending to be an old friend of Dumbledore's had more benefits than he had first suspected. "Take a seat." He turned his head to focus both on eyes on her as she walked towards her own desk. His main eye narrowed, finger lifted to move the chair she had started to pull out back towards the desk.

She looked up sharply. "Professor?"

"A front seat, Miss Granger." His hand motioned and one of the chairs in the front middle of the room pulled away from the desk. "Class is not currently in session. This is detention and you will be sitting where I can keep an eye on you. Is that clear?"

The magic eye turned swiftly to the small movement of how her mouth moved to start to form a pout. She was making it very tempting to just cast the spell now and put her in the chair himself, not that he would need to seek an excuse for much longer. "Yes, Professor."

He moved infront of the desk, waiting for her to take the seat. Once she was seated he spoke, "For today you will be helping with a little spell." She looked surprised at this. "Just because you got yourself detention today does not mean I am going to change my prior plans." A scowl had settled on her face now and he found himself preferring that half pout from before. "I am going to have to ask that you close your eyes for the first portion unless you want to go blind."

"What is the spell?" The question was asked as her eyes closed.

It almost seemed too good. Then again she had no reason not to trust him, or rather, 'Professor Moody'. "It was created during the Roman Empire, when they occupied Romania. There's only a handful of books that contain the spell, most were burned when the Empire fell. There are a few people that know of it simply because it was passed down. Burnings of witches and wizards in that time were common so they are even more rare than the books. This particular spell has to do with the mind and most books that contain it speculate as to what it even does. I have one of the few that don't speculate." He added the last part when he noticed her body tense in alarm. "It's perfectly safe."

"So, why do you need to cast it then?"

Without her looking at him he allowed a smile. "It cannot be cast on oneself."

Her shoulders tensed again and he quickly made his expression go back to neutral before her eyes could open to glare at him. "I don't recall volunteering for-"

"Then perhaps Miss Granger you should put more consideration into where you fall asleep. It may have to do with the mind but I will not be looking at your memories or anything else invasive." Not in that sense anyways. "I can assure you that the spell is not harmful in the least. Do you really think I would cast it on you otherwise?"

That made her shut up, her jaw actually making an audible snap when it closed. It took a moment before her lips parted again, "No. Of course not." That urge to smirk just seemed to keep growing. "Okay." Her eyes closed. "I'm ready."

"If I'm able to run every test I have to this will be the shortest detention you've ever attended."

"This is the only detention I've ever attended." Her lips had curled up, a small laugh coming from her. "Guess I'll have to stop taking naps in the library."

He smirked now, finding himself amused. "That would be a good idea for the future." If it happened again though he would be sure he was the one that found her. Raising his wand he pointed it at the middle of her forehead. "_Mintea Ridicati_." A soft blue glow emited from the wand, it quickly wrapped around the girl's form before sinking into the skin. Her breath faltered the moment the blue light was gone before resuming at a slower pace, body slumping back in the chair.

He withdrew his wand eyes roaming over her.

Barty waited until the last few minutes of polyjuice ran out, his body shifting until he was back to himself again. The metal leg was left leaning against his own desk, the magical eye rolling around on top of the desk. It made him wonder if the real Alastor could still see from the object even now. If he could then that would be entertaining, and that was someone he could make answer the question truthfully without a single hitch.

Turning his attention back to Hermione he reached out a hand to draw his actual fingers through her hair. It was still as soft as he had remembered and he leaned down to press his nose to the strands, catching the scent of her perfume. He inhaled the fragrance, turning his head to seek out the source.

His lips brushed over her jaw bone and he smiled at the soft texture of her skin, moving further down to her neck, stopping when the perfume got stronger. He stayed like that for atleast a minute; leaning over her, drinking in her scent.

Turning just slighty he pressed his lips to her neck, right above the collarbone. Once he started he couldn't find it in him to stop. Barty kept pressing kisses along her throat, a hand raising to cradle the other side of her neck, to be able to press his lips more firmly against the skin. It was just so soft and sweet, and she had made it almost ridiculously easy for him to put her in an unconscious state.

The ticking of the clock finally broke through his fragrance clouded mind and he withdrew to look over the skin, tempted to bite it. Unfortunately even if he did the mark wouldn't be allowed to stay.

His finger raised to tuck a stand of hair back behind her ear before he glanced towards the clock. With a scowl he got up. It was a good thing he had given her a weeks detention rather than one day. Only being able to do that once would have been disapointing, and he still had other plans in mind for her.

Grabbing a flask of the polyjuice potion he swallowed it down in one gulp so he wouldn't have to deal with the taste for too long. Once the eye was back in place and the leg reattached he picked up the auror's wand. Pointing it back towards Hermione he muttered the counter-curse.

The only clue to the spell being reversed was the change of pace in her breath.

"You can open your eyes now." He waited for her to look at him before he continued, "Was able to get a few tests done, they took longer than I suspected. I'll have to continue working on it next time so you should know what to expect." She just gave a small nod, it's not like the instructions he had given her had been that difficult. "If you want dinner I suggest you run down to the hall, and don't let me catch you out past the hour again Miss Granger."

"Yes, Professor." He watched as she got up from the chair and left the room, zooming in on her figure, smiling at how much else he could get away with without her knowing a thing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Suspending Consciousness - 2**

**So, due to the content in this chapter I'm upping the rating to M.**

He had gotten up early that morning, lifting the lid to a chest-more like a prison-in the corner of his office. Inside Alastor Moody looked up and Crouch simply smiled down at him. It was always satisfying to see the Auror trapped, today he was hoping it would be slightly more pleasing than normal though.

"I would like your opinion on something, _Moody_." A laugh escaped him when he used the name that was his alias. "Was the other day eventful for you?" Judging by the more menacing glare than usual it had been. He didn't bother to hold back his chuckle. "Well isn't that perfect? An Auror that's able to see more than his prison. I bet it gives you hope, most of the time." He was grinning now. "Able to see students-or should I say student? And yet not able to lift a finger to help. It must be driving you mad, 'as a hatter,' they say. Well, speak your mind."

With a flick of his wand he adjusted the curse so Moody would have to do as he said, answer anything he asked.

"You keep away from my students, Bartemius-"

"Your students?" He grinned wickedly. "I believe they are _my _students, but please, continue."

"And keep your hands off them."

"Whose them?" There was only one student he had put his hands on, and he was curious if Moody could actually see from the eye within there. This question would simply confirm it as Alastor wouldn't be able to know who it was any other way.

"The Granger girl, Hermione. I don't know what your planning with her but keep your filthy hands off her. You came here for Harry, leave all the other students out of it."

Ah, so he could. "I'll have you know the filthy one here is you. You stink." He chuckled as he raised a hand to grab the edge of the chest. "Have a good day, enjoy the show." With the chest closed he latched it to keep it shut, waving his wand absently to increase the hold of the imperio curse on his captive. He didn't need the fool screaming and trying to open the chest today when the Granger girl-as he had put it-came around for detention.

At first Barty had found himself irritated because he had classes to attend to, and the fact that it would be hours before Hermione arrived for today. Throughout the day though that feeling kept growing. The first, second, and third years he was teaching just made it even more irritable. He had felt a sense of relief when the last class was departing. That is, right before a student had dropped the name Granger and Krum in the same sentance.

He couldn't remember the last time his blood had run so cold. Hermione was _his_ toy to play with, not that of some foolish young boy that was born with the lucky gift to become a Seeker for a Quidditch team at such a young age.

When she opened the door he had already cast a silence spell over the room having had enough time from then and now for his blood to be boiling. "Same seat as before Granger, you know the drill." He waved his hand at the chair and it pulled away from the desk. Barty didn't chance a glance at her until he heard the scraping of wood along the stone.

Her eyes were already closed, so compliant. He wasn't sure he liked that anymore, it made it too easy. It would be better if she gave him a fight. That would require him to reveal who he was though and he couldn't do that without prior planning to make sure she didn't run off and tell anyone-or rather couldn't tell anyone. For now though he would settle for this. Pointing his wand at her he hissed the spell, already pulling out the eye and peg mistaken for a leg.

Once the transformation was complete he slowly walked back to her, flicking his wand so the table drew to the side of the room, so the chair was pull to the center only to be taken away a moment later as he levitated her body above the floor. With a couple more flicks the rest of the desks and chairs were at the edge of the room and he resumed walking around her. Extending his wand once to pull strands of hair away from her face.

He stopped in his pace, studying her body before murmuring, "_Crucio_."

Her lips parted in a silent scream as she started to thrash in the air. Fingers clutching for whatever was causing the pain, but unable to find anything. The lids of her eyes flickered but never opened. It was good to know the spell held so strong. A lesser one would have broken, she would have been waken by the pain.

As it was her body twisted silently and he watched for awhile.

He sat on his desk before addressing her, "When I ask, you will answer, got it?"

A sound finally forced it's way from her drawn lips, "Yes."

He regarded her for a moment, glad the spell kept working even with her under the curse. Now he could finally start to use it to it's full extent. He pointed his wand at her this time while he spoke, slowly working the magic inside of her, "How do you know Krum?"

"He... watches me... study." The words tumbled slowly from her, the pause longer when her limbs gave a particularly nasty jerk. "Most of the... time."

"Most?" He prompted, giving a flick of his wrist and watching as a blue glow traced along her arm for a moment before fading back into her skin.

"Other times... he just... watches."

"Focus on those memories for me." As his wand moved more blue traced her skin, "Keep it at the forefront of your mind." The glow increased with every second that passed, "Right," This time he could see the blue even beneath her robes, "_there_."

The glow brightened instantly at his command, then it was shooting along the skin as it dulled once more, digging into the skin, all moving up to her mind. With another flick he said the spell for the second time that day, "_Mintea Ridicati_."

A gasp escaped her lips then she was silent again, no longer looking like she was covered in blue flames.

He only waited a second before voicing his question, "Do you know Krum?'

"Who?" Her voice no longer trembled.

"Good girl." He smiled as he got up from the desk to circle her. "Now, listen closely," Barty turned her head so he could whisper directly into her ear, "Whenever you see Krum watching you, you will leave the room. If he tries to speak to you, you will ignore him. Understood?"

"Yes."

He pulled away with a smirk, looking along her body that still twisted sharply under the curse's grip. It still wasn't enough, but the spell had also worked just as it was suppose to. So it would have to be enough for now. Though the longer he thought about it the more his thoughts wandered to a darker spell. That... that could be very entertaining for the remainder of time she needed to be in the classroom.

With a muttered, "_Lux Cor_." her body arched barely a second later. It still twisted but the pained look on her face had gone away, her lips parted in desperation for something other than pain. The jerking of her limbs had become more fluid, as if following the twists of the curse.

He grinned. "Do you like that feeling?'

"Yes." There was a moan in her word that made his smirk widen.

This had been a very good choice of spell indeed. "What if I take it away?" He broke off the crucio curse and she cried out in loss, quickly murmuring lowly, resorting to begging to be put back under.

When he glanced to the clock though he found that her detention had been over for a minute now. He couldn't chance anyone coming into the classroom with her in this state and quickly moved the desks and chairs back to their former locations while taking a swing of polyjuice from his flask, stopping the grip the two last spells had on her after settling her body back in the chair. "We're done for today, Miss Granger." He said the leg already reattached while he stuck the eye back in.

Her eyes opened and he wished for a moment that they had been able to do so before, being able to see her whole reaction would have been nice. Another day, maybe.

"Professor? For tomorrow can I come a bit later?" He regarded her but didn't answer, silently asking for an explanation. "There's some work I have to do, including group work in Charms for a project."

"How much later?" He didn't want to give up any time he had with her, considering how limited it was. But he couldn't keep her up through the night either.

"Two, maybe three hours."

Barty hardly had to think about it. "I'll give you two hours, and I expect you here at the new time, no later." This way he wouldn't have to take an hour off her detention.

"Thank you, Professor."

She had started to turn away but he called to her, "One more thing Miss Granger. Do you know who Krum is?"

When she turned back to him, she looked confused at his question. "Who?"

He had to hold back his smile. "Nobody. Go on."

The door shut behind her and he grinned as he settled back into his seat.


	3. Chapter 3

**Suspending Consciousness - 3**

The quil scratched along the parchment in front of him, on the verge of snapping from the preassure he was applying to the utensil. His eyes flicked to the door for the seventh time in five minutes before moving back to the essay he was grading. Usually he would welcome the distraction as it was easier grading these than dealing with the students that wrote them, but he was still waiting for his distraction from this mundane work. That and McGonagall had reported what he had done to the young Malfoy to Dumbledore again, not that it surprised the old man. It was perfectly in character for Moody, and he knew it. After a few words were exchanged he had left the Headmaster's office with McGonagall scowling at him, and then soon following...

_"Alastor," he purposely let the cane come down hard on the stone to cover the call of his name. "Alastor!" With a mutter he turned around to look at the House Head of Gryffindor. "I hear you've given Miss Granger detention for a whole week-"_

_"It's my job," he interrupted what sounded like a prepared speech, "I caught her dosing off in the library after curfew. If _any_ student wants to dose off they can do it in their own rooms. But not while I'm on patrol." He raised his voice slightly to be heard by some passing students who had been shooting glances at the Professors before scurrying off to their next class. It really was easy to get the students worked up._

_"I am aware of the circumstances, Potter told me just yesterday. Is there any reason you didn't report this to me immediately so I would know why a student is coming in to the commons late?" McGonagall came to a stop just a foot away from him, a deep frown etched across her face._

_"I assure you, she has enough time to get to your tower."_

_"And if she hadn't I would have given her a detention while under the impression that she was sneaking around the castle at night."_

_"I'm sure Miss Granger wouldn't fail to tell you of the circumstances if that happened, and then you would have just validated it with me and no discipline would be taken for an honest mistake." He paused when the other Professor still hadn't moved from her spot in the hall. "Is there something else_ _I can help you with?" he asked, starting to get annoyed as he did have a class to attend to himself, just as she surely did, making them both late would mean he would have to keep the class longer and he didn't want to do that. Those first years came close to giving him a headache the other day._

_"I understand the need to discipline the students, but when it gets in the way of studies-"_

_"Did a classmate of Granger's tell you that as well?" her scowl only confirmed his suspicions. "I've changed the time for her so she can do her groupwork in Charms if that's the subject you speak about." Though he didn't see why she cared when it wasn't her own class. The woman was like a lioness trying to protect its cubs from any possible danger. He was careful though, there was no way she actually suspected anything. Some other Gryffindor in the same group probably just couldn't research properly or the group Miss Granger was 'working' with was putting all the burden on her, or trying to if they weren't already. "If anything else comes up during the detention period I'm sure Miss Granger can speak with me herself about it as she has already proven herself capable of doing."_

_"Good. I don't want to hear about unfair punishments again." More like you don't want to be pestered about students' study times. He knew he wouldn't._

_"I'm not transfiguring your students."_

_McGonagall's eyes narrowed. "I would hope you didn't transfigure any students at Hogwarts. If Mr. Malfoy sends a complaint it's going straight to you Alastor."_

_"I should hope so." He wouldn't mind seeing Lucius again, that traitor still needed to pay for his faults._

_McGonagall huffed before turning away, though a slight twinkle was in her eye. That woman disliked Lucius as well, just for different reasons than him. She probably thought it was the same as he was currently wearing Moody's skin._

He was still in disguise even now, it was coming close to the time when he would need to drink more polyjuice. If he had to do that before she came then it would be a complete waste of today.

The door slammed open barely a second later and the quil snapped in his fingers. "You're late. You said it wouldn't be a problem-"

"I'm sorry Professor Mad-Moody I got here as fast as I could. The other group members were having trouble with, umm... sorry." Hermione stopped in her ramble as she set her bag down on the desk across from his, eyes going from the broken quil and irritated look on his face.

With a scowl he continued what he had been about to say when she interrupted him, "You told me the other day that you would be on time if I gave you an exstention before detention to work on this project of yours." A project that was probably pointless considering it was Flitwick teaching the subject. The class was to learn charms, not teamwork skills. That was more his department than anyother Professor at this blasted school.

"I promise it won't happen again."

He was on the verge of telling her the detention time was being moved back, but then a student in her group would just complain to McGongall or another Professor that would listen. The last thing he wanted was anyone around him for longer than need be, especially the other Professors that had known Moody in the past. There was also the issue that she had almost said Mad-Eye. Then again, he didn't care what the students called that man and he would surely go mad while trapped in the chest anyways if he wasn't already. "See that it doesn't."

He stood up, giving her a pointed look and Hermione closed her eyes a moment later. Barty cast the spell, still feeling irritated after everything that had happened today. The only good thing was this, and it was already getting on his nerves that he had to cast this spell on her eachtime and he couldn't get more out of her than body movements caused by the cruciatus curse. It lacked any real movement, her eyes wouldn't open so even if she had any thoughts or emotions on the matter he couldn't tell what they were.

The simplicity of it was starting to bore him. He needed to liven up the performance somehow. He needed...

His lips curled up, tongue lashing out at the side of his mouth. Oh, it had been a long time since he had casted proper dark magic, especially one not so easily recognized. He knew all the ingredients needed for the potion and the last and most important one was unconscious in her seat.

Barty set the eye down on the table, placing it in the middle of an object so it couldn't move. So the real Alastor wouldn't be able to look away and had to watch what he did to her. Forced to watch, unable to help. It made him smile as he pushed the peg against the table. This was a treat he wouldn't be able to pass up, but it would take time to create the potion which meant he couldn't finish it today. He could still get what he needed from her though. That alone would be enough to make Moody scream from inside the chest, perhaps even yell profanities at him. If the auror put together what it was for, if not he would find out soon enough.

He chuckled loudly and moved back around the desk and past it to his office. It took him a few minutes to find what he was looking for. He ran his finger over the flat side of the blade, the edge still sharp and glinting in the low candle light of his office. Stepping back out with a grin he moved across the room to where she sat.

Barty tugged the sleeve of her robe up easily enough, along with the winter shirt beneath that though it was technically spring. He muttered the romanian spell again, watching the blue flames move over her skin before laying the blade along her forearm. After positioning an empty vial beneath it he drew the blade down, watching with a grin as a cut formed, blood oozing slowly from the cut and he turned her arm and watched the trail it made down her pale skin before entering the vial. When the blood flow had started to slow he made another cut on her arm, turning it to let gravity do the rest.

As the vial began to fill up he muttered, "Lux cor," and began to twist at the emotions. Hearing her breath catch he grinned and pressed the blade down a bit harder to hear a gasp escape past her lips. That would do. He let his hold over the spell go and watched as the flames faded back into the skin. A simple and rather artistic way to tell the spell had done it's job. He made one other cut to fill the vial then pressed the stopper in before turning his attention back to her.

A few spells were whsipered; to close the wound, clean the remaing blood from her skin, and get rid of any feeling that came from being cut or losing blood.

He went back to his office, cleaning the blood of the blade with same spell before tucking it back where he had found it and putting the vial on the desk so he could start on the potion the moment she left. For once it seemed he had a reason to like it when she left.

Walking back into the room he rolled the sleeves back down after checking that there was no evidence of what he had done. His gaze moved up past her shoulder to her neck. He had already cast spells to get rid of the scars the blade caused, one more wasn't going to spoil it.

He reached out a hand to brush her hair over her shoulders, fingers sliding up to her jawline and staying there to keep a firm grip as he leaned forward, parting his lips to nibble at the soft expanse of skin. His fingers moved to tilt her head and he continued his path to what was now accessible. Teeth slid across the skin, tongue wetting the surface just before his lips met the smooth surface.

When he moved away it was with a slight disappointed snarl. He would have liked it more if her form had been struggling beneath him. After reminding himself that that would be happening sometime soon enough he got up, making his way to the desk and the flask of polyjuice lying ontop of it. After taking a swing he was quick to put the eye in the moment he felt his own disappear, fitting the peg onto his leg when it shortened. After checking that the transformation was complete he took the wand and muttered a few spells to get rid of the marks that he had left on her skin and move her hair back into place. With another flick the spell was broken and her eyes flickered open. "You can go." he said, turning to his office and not looking once in her direction as she left.

He had to prepare for the next day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Suspending Consciousness - 4**

**Bucurati-va! (all romanian mistakes are google's fault)**

The bubbling liquid below him turned dark and Barty grabbed the vial of blood he had collected from Granger, dumping the contents in so it became a dark red instead. Wisps of black still stretched out like a spider's web across the surface and he moved the potion from ontop of the flame, letting it rest on the desk and cool.

With the potion going through it's final stage he turned to the corner of the room, the edge of his mouth quirked up in a smirk. He could just imagine what the auror wanted to say to him. But imagining was hardly fun when the real thing was so easily accessible. Soon the trapped auror would become second place in terms of what he could have fun with whenever he wanted, technically anyway. As long as he wasn't teaching, or helping prepare for the next part of the tournament, or a number of other things his position as a Professor called for.

He was looking forward to it.

The locks slid apart when he waved his wand and when the chest started to rise he heard a loud shout from within, "If you don't stop playing your sick games I swear I'll find a place worse than Azkaban for your imprisonment!" Barty pushed the top up the rest of the way with a smirk even as the prisoner continued, "And that's only if the other aurors find you before I do!"

He smiled at the auror he had, who was currently shaking a fist at him from within the chest. "You do that." The shouts stopped then, Moody was glaring up at him, positively seething with anger. "Please, yell some more. No one else will hear." Judging from the way he could almost see steam coming up from the auror he would be screaming the whole time anyway.

"I know you did something to that girl, with your little gypsy tricks!" Ah, so he had noticed that. Any student of spell history would be able to tell though, it must be a requirement for the auror program. Romanian spells created by a gypsy mage did tend to be flashy, and those blue flames shouted their origin. "You change whatever it is back and leave her alone!"

"You've seen the spell before I take it." There was no other way Moody could know that he had changed something within Hermione, an adjustment to the way her body worked, distorting the usual emotional and biological responses.

"I've burned any books I've come across with that spell inside it! I've sent a witch to Azkaban for it! I'm not just going to sit here while you toy with the mind of a student!"

"But you are, just sitting _there_." He spoke slowly, smiling as he did. It was amusing to see the look of fury come over the auror's face. Besides yelling he couldn't do much from the chest. Barty had his wand, he had him under the imperius curse. They both knew he couldn't lift a finger against him. He glanced around the room after a moment, musing aloud to see what Moody's reaction would be, "Where do you think I should hide my new toy? Somewhere in plain sight like you?"

"You do that and you'll be the first suspect when she disappears after one of your 'detention sessions.' No matter how much Dumbledore trusts anyone in his employ he will continue looking for the student until he finds her. Go ahead and see how fast the aurors find you."

He glanced down, surprised there was no more shouting, but Moody looked even more angry now. Barty smirked. "I have a mission. What makes you think I would risk being found out?"

"If you don't want to be found then you better leave the girl alone."

He chuckled. "I'm not going to leave her alone. She's my new toy, or did you forget that already? In fact," he glanced back to his desk, were the potion substance had clearly cooled. Right on time then. "I think I know exactly where I'll put her."

"You won't get away with any of this, not Harry, or Hermione."

He was tempted to roll his eyes at the auror's childish antics. "Harry trusts me, or should I say you? Hermione is even more compliant and after what I did there's no chance she's going to resist me. Not for long anyways." Just thinking about it made him grin.

"What did you do to her?" The sudden shout drew his gaze back to the chest.

"You'll see." he leaned over to look directly at Moody, "Have you ever heard of Nisipuri Vii?" Judging from the way the auror suddenly looked sick to his stomach he had. "Explain to me how they'll notice she's missing when she doesn't just disappear."

"That's why you took her blood." It was just a flat statement.

Barty chuckled. "Yes. Why else would I take it?" Moody's eyes narrowed at him and he smirked, "Do you think I have some sort of muggle-born blood collection in a drawer somewhere?"

"You better hope I don't find you when I get out of here, and eventually I will." His brow raised at the threat. An idle threat at that. As if he could beat him, Barty had already trapped Alastor once there was no reason he couldn't do it again if the auror did come after him.

"How do you propose to do that when you're dead?" Barty shut the trunk after that, not caring to listen to anymore threats after giving his own. He walked back to his desk, picking up the potion vial, swirling the container idly in his hand as he walked out of the office into the classroom. The door opened almost the same instant when he set the vial down.

"Hello, Professor Moody."

"Good evening, Miss Granger. Please take your seat and we'll continue where we left off the other day."

He saw her nod out of the corner of his eye, and the glance she gave at the potion on his desk. "Is that going to be part of this session?" she asked, while setting her bag on the desk, skirting around to glance down at the vial on his own desk. He supposed he should have expected that.

"Yes. If you don't mind drinking it right now so the process can go faster-"

"It smells foul." she had just leaned forward and sniffed at the substance inside.

He allowed himself to smile then, "Have you come across a potion that doesn't?"

"No. Not yet." Hermione said with a laugh, "Snape never has us brew a potion remotely pleasant. This one kind of looks like a lava lamp though." she was now tilting her head to look at the side of the vial.

"A what?" Barty asked, walking around the desk, to see what she was looking at.

"It's a muggle light." Hermione explained, "Here," she tapped the side of the glass with her finger, pointing at a glob of red in the black solution. "Usually this would be the colored wax, a lightbulb beneath it and a translucent liquid would make it rise and fall due to density changes." she stood back up, fingers wrapping around the vial. "I suppose it'll taste foul as well." His gaze was now locked on her, forcing himself to hold in a laugh as she raised the potion to her lips. Her tongue slipped out to touch hesitantly at the surface and she grimaced. He was about to tell her not to waste time when she threw her head back and downed the contents in one go. Which was really the only way to take most potions. "Okay," she said slowly, "that wasn't the worst thing I've tasted." He found it near impossible not to even grin.

So simple, so easy, and it wasn't even the most terrible thing she had ever had. Her own blood was in the mix and she hadn't noticed. It was more than enough to make him laugh but he only opened his mouth to say, "You can sit down now and we'll get started." Barty turned back to the desk to pick up his wand.

"Sure-_eh_." He turned quickly to she was leaning against the desk, a hand resting on her stomach. Well, that had been fast. "I-i don't feel so good."

"It has that effect sometimes." he lied, in truth this was an unavoidable reaction as the potion started working. It had kicked in a bit sooner than he thought it would, but there had been no specific time sets in the manuscript. The fact was this was good, the sooner it took hold the sooner he could move her after the process was done.

"It-i-" she had tried to push away from the desk and almost fell, Barty moved a hand around her waist, unconcerned as his skin itched and he could feel the bones in his body readjusting. "Professor?" looking down he caught her gaze that had glossed over. His own was starting to come back in one eye and he hurriedly removed the glass eye that whizzed around on the table when he set it down. Moody had to be beyond furious.

"_Respiratie_."

She sucked in a breath, the spell taking on it's full effect at the word. Her eyes closed an instant later and he moved her body closer to him, bending slightly to grab her legs and raise her off the ground so he could carry her. He didn't move though, instead leaning down to mutter in her ear to continue the spell,

"_La trapul ei, sa ia sufletul ei, ia inima si mintea ei. Devora ea. Devora ei. Pana la luna ramane scazut si soarele fierbe la mare. Respiratia pana la moarte atunci cand vanturile canta, padurea plange, si strica de sange pe pamant._"

Her body started to jerk in his hands and he gripped her tight, pressing her against him as she shook violently. When her lips parted a dark cloud slipped between them and he moved quickly past it as it started to solidify, bones starting to show in the dark. He shut the door once in his office, simply listening until he heard footsteps, a bag sliding off a desk, then the continued tread of feet before the door to the classroom closed.


	5. Chapter 5

**Suspending Consciousness - 5**

**Wow, all ready at half-way point. Fly fingers!**

**Oh, and warning for mature content ahead.**

He muttered under his breath while writing on a poorly written essay in red ink. Each one seemed to be the same in that light. Either the class that wrote this specific set of essays didn't pay attention to a word he said in class or do the homework. Another possibility was that all the essays ontop were the crappy ones. If anything they were the easiest to grade. Though being the easiest just made the time go by slower.

When the hell was that golem going to get here so he could send it off? That way it wouldn't get in the way of his time with the girl and McGonagall wouldn't have any reason to speak with him. Unless it concerned the Malfoys that is. He was still hoping a letter would come, though Snape had apparently said something to Draco earlier today since he hadn't put a toe out of line in his class.

A pity.

"Professor?" he looked up to see it standing there in the doorway.

It had the same brown curls framing pale skin and brown eyes. It wore the black school robe with the Gryffindor colors, though this one would be real rather than an illusion when it first stepped from the classroom. Pretty pink lips parted, drawing his gaze. Those were the same as well. A perfect replica.

"Umm, Professor?"

He blinked, looking back up towards her eyes again. Those same eyes were closed currently, sleeping in the dark. "Miss Granger," he looked back to his desk for a moment so he wasn't looking at her. Repeatedly reminded of the treat he had saved for just after this. If it had been any earlier he probably wouldn't be able to tear himself away. "I believe you've learned your lesson by now, haven't you?" he looked up now, tapping away at the quill in his hands. He wanted to get this out of the way as quickly as possible so didn't even wait for it to answer him. "I'm canceling your other detentions with me," he dipped the quill back in the ink pot as he spoke, "you won't have to come here anymore. From what I've seen you're not going to be up past curfew again unless it's in your own dorm, am I right?"

"Yes," it smiled. Somehow that disturbed him. If he had said the same thing to her would she be smiling? Would she be relieved not to come into his classroom anymore? "Thank you, Professor. I hope I helped with the research for that spell you were doing."

"You did, now get out of my classroom." raising his quill he looked back to the essay, writing on it until he heard the door close. The moment it had left he got up from his chair, satisfied that the spell had gone smoothly with it's performace. He put the top back on the ink well, resting the quill beside it on the desk.

Barty turned and walked to a wall, pressing a hand to a stone with a barely noticeable mark at the corner. It trembled before disappearing along with a number of stones around it to make a hole the size of a door. He walked over the threshold, aware of the illusion slipping back into place as he headed down the hall, after a few twists and turns he came to the end and opened the door to his room.

It was larger than his cell had been in Azkaban, still made of stone but there was a fireplace he could light to drive away the cold at night. A dark wood desk settled in a niche along with a comfy yet dull gray chair, running along the same wall that held a bookcase with less than a dozen books on the shelves. He hadn't really gotten the chance to fill it, and he would only be here until the end of the year so there was no reason to anyways.

Glancing to his left he saw the king sized bed that he had come quick to appreciate after sleeping on a cold stone floor for years. A drawer the wood the same as the desk and bookcase sat near it, but his gaze skipped right over it and to the right.

Past the rug that laid infront of the fireplace, a couch that looked to be a hundred years old, his gaze settled on a door. With a smirk he stepped into his room and closed the door to his room behind him. Barty walked forward to sit on the couch, immediately seeming to sink into the furniture by a few inches. He ignored this though, used to it now and removed the peg, resting it against the side of the couch. As the the transformation hit him he already had gotten the eye out as well, rolling it around in his hand. The eye kept moving to stay focused on him though, apparently not interested in anything else.

He smiled just as his jaw stopped twitching, "You watching me Moody?" a laugh escaped him, "Don't worry, I won't let you miss out on the show."

With the eye still in his palm he got up, wrapping his fingers around the object as he walked to the cloest door and grabbed the knob to turn it, opening the door slowly. He parted his fingers to allow the auror to see what was inside. From the feel of it spinning madly in his hand the man was likely trying to scream from within the chest, to be heard by anyone passing in the hall. Barty had put a number of silencing spells in that room this morning though, as well as a few in the hall and on his door incase she woke up.

From the way her crumpled form was still lying on the floor, curled inward, she hadn't. In a way he was surprised she hadn't woken up, though just like there was no specific set time for the spell to initially kick in there was no way to tell when she would be rejuvenated. The spell took quite a bit out of a person. Evidently it had taken a lot out of her to create the copy.

There was always a few ways to make a person wake up though. He raised a hand to rasp on the wood of the door, intentionally being loud. The reaction was almost instant and he smirked at the thought of her being a light sleeper.

Her eyes had snapped open, body giving a little jerk from the sound, and then becoming still when the chain attached to her left ankle rattled from the movement. Soon enough her eyes were darting around the dark room before finally settling on him. He smiled as she looked at him in confusion. "Who are you? Where am I? What do you want?" The questions were fired off so quickly that he couldn't help but laugh.

When his chuckling had died down he answered with her still staring up at him, "My name's Barty. You, my dear, are at Hogwarts. In my room-or rather closet, if it interests you to know. As for what I want..." he paused, glancing down to open his hand fully, watching as the eye rolled quickly to focus on him. It almost seemed to tremble in anger. Turning his hand over he let it fall to the ground, to spin around as the auror tried to refocus on the surroundings. He hoped that watching the world spin like that would make him sick itself. "Well, I already got what I want," he moved his gaze back to her when the eye steadied again, "If I hadn't you wouldn't be in here."

Her eyes showed more fear now than confusion, and she was slowly sitting up from the floor, being cautious if nothing else. That was just fine with him. "What do you want from me?"

He smiled, impressed that her voice wasn't shaking even though the fear just kept becoming more evident in her eyes as the seconds ticked by. "A number of things," he paused, "for you to stop asking me such ridiculous questions would be the first." her lips that had been parting again snapped shut. "Oh, don't stop talking," there was a trace of disapointment in his voice. "I want you to think for a moment about what I just told you. If you're going to ask me a question, make it worth my time to answer."

She didn't say anything for a moment, but then, "Barty? The same name as the official from the Ministry?"

He nodded. "The dead official."

She went silent for a few seconds. "Are you going to kill me?"

At his chuckle she seemed to shrink back to the floor and he grinned, "No, I don't plan to kill you, _Hermione_."

"How do yo-" he cocked his head to the side, making a small _tisk_ sound and her jaw snapped shut.

"Good girl. You learn fast."

Her eyes narrowed and he smiled as she stood up, pushing up from the floor with an irriated look. How amusing. "If you don't plan to kill me then tell me what it is you want."

His brow raised slowly, "Is that suppose to be a command?" he took a step forward, eyes darting to her feet when she stepped back, "Are you making demands of me? While running away from me?' he moved forward quickly, capturing both her hands in one of his, forcing her back to the wall as he reached forward, grasping her bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger before she could speak.

It was still soft and he gave a little tug to hear her gasp softly from the action. Finally, a real reaction. Not like the awkward jerk of limbs or a faint replica from before. Turning his fingers so the nail was pressed to the surface he sliced quickly with his thumb. Blood oozed from the cut; her body had given a little jump, eyelids fluttering closed for a second, lips parting just a half-centimer more. "I never did tell you what the purpose of the spell was."

Her eye flashed open, full of fear and confusion. "Pro-professor?"

"Only if you want to get technical." he released her lip, smiling when she pressed back into the wall. That wouldn't help her get away, the sound of the chain moving validated that little fact. "I read up on you after that little stunt in the library. You're rather familiar with the Polyjuice Potion." her widening eyes was enough of a confirmination for him that she had figured it out. "Don't worry, the real Professor is just locked up in a box," he glanced back to the eye that was perfectly still on the ground, "isn't that right Moody?"

The eye spun around, rolling forward along the ground. Barty kicked it away when it got close, laughing as it bounced off a wall and started rolling across the room. "That... that's Alastor Moody's eye."

"Yes," he confirmed, turning to face her again. "He's a little upset right now." he took a moment to consider those words, "Actually, he's always mad these days." leaning forward his lips brushed her ear when he spoke, "I'm sure he'll be positively raving by the end of the show."

"S-show?" her voice finally quivered and he drew back with a grin, just before his hand connected with her cheek.

The shout that had started on her lips ended in a moan. "What did I tell you?" he asked, glancing to her mouth, where the delightful sound had come from.

"N-no ridiculous questi-stions." Judging from the shaking in her voice she was terrified. "Wha-what _was _that?"

Barty smirked, "What was what?" he was curious if he could get her to figure it out herself rather than him telling her. Though there was no way she couldn't know with so much fear shining in her eyes. If he could get her to say it that would be even better. "I asked you a question." he said after she didn't say anything for an extended time.

Her lips just pressed together. Oh well, he would get her to say it later. Right now he would rather get a performance out of her.

He slid his hand down to clasp at her wrists before pulling her from the wall, redirecting her to the floor. It was then she started struggling against him and he released her wrists, kicking out at her legs so she fell back on the ground. When she started to get up again Barty descended down ontop of her, to pin her down. "You can fight, but it won't help you." With a wordless accio the blade from ontop of his desk flew into his open hand.

Her eyes widened when she saw the blade. "You said-"

"It's not to kill you. Considering the way you've acted so far I can assure you that you won't feel the pain. Now stay still. Don't want to accidentally cut a major artery, do we?" He adjusted his hold on the knife and sat up before grabbing at her school robe and sliding the blade through before he began cutting at the fabric. Slowly he cut the article into strips, throwing them to the side when he had gotten the front and sleeves out of the way so the only part that was still whole was the back of it that she lied ontop of. He moved the blade to the shirt now, noticing her body tense now that it was closer to her skin with each cut. Barty let it slip after the fourth time, so it nicked her above the rib.

A small whimper passed her lips and he moved the blade down, keeping it above her skin this time. Grabbing the strip he removed it, letting it fall into the pile. He leaned back, looking at his work. Two clear strips had been cut on both her right and left so he could now see the skin beneath, the knife had also cut through her bra for those ones. At the edge of each one only an inch of cloth held it together. His gaze was drawn to the newest strip of flesh with a thin line of blood starting to trail down right in the center of her chest. He pressed his finger to the cut, gaze flickering up when she bit at her lip before drawing his finger down and smearing the blood over her skin.

Barty moved the blade to press at the bottom far right now, pressing the blade to the skin he had exposed and drew it up, watching her as he did so. Her lips were pressed into a thin line now and he brought the blade down a bit more so she gasped, giving him a reaction. If he had to he would force every single one from her. The blade moved to the next one, drawing down from the top this time. He was sure to keep it light on the surface, randomly pressing down as he went so she couldn't predict when he he would do it. So she couldn't keep herself from making any noise, and with each one the small gasps got louder, turning into short whines.

He moved the blade away once there was an individual line of blood from each rectangle shaped strip in the shirt. "Let's check, shall we?" Barty moved his unoccupied hand down, flipping up her skirt and running his fingers up her thigh, aware of the heavy breathing below him. He pressed his hand to the cotton between her legs, grinning. "Now for the main course." He moved the blade quickly, twisting it down to draw quickly up her thigh, moving his hand to feel the blood slip around his fingers a second later. He didn't pay that much mind though as Hermione had let loose a loud moan, back arching up from the ground and he leaned down so he was pressed against her, his head just below her chin as he pressed his lips to the hollow of her throat. A salty tang hit his tongue and his eyes darted up to see tears running down her face. That just made him smirk.

Reaching out with his bloodied hand he grabbed one of the strips from her robe before flipping her over, rewarded with a surprised yelp as he set the blade down before grabbing both her hands. With them behind her back he wrapped the robe piece around her wrists before grabbing another and covering her eyes, using it as a blindfold. He turned her back over then even as she finally got hold of her voice, "What are you doing? What did you do to me?"

He laughed, ignoring her first question as it wasn't much of a stretch for her to figure it out herself. "You know what I did." Barty grabbed a strip from her shirt then, bundling it up into a small ball, and when she went to open her mouth to say something else he shoved it inside. "Do me a favor and shut up." He got up off her then, taking a moment to look around the room and find the eye that was spinning again, picking it up off the floor before heading out the door. "If you stay the way you are now I may bring you something to eat. _If _I come in tomorrow and find a single thing out of place, I'll punish you." The door clicked shut behind him, silencing the little whimpers around the gag in her mouth.


	6. Chapter 6

**Suspending Consciousness - 6**

He ran fingers through foreign hair, letting out a frustrated sigh.

With the classroom door finally closed for the day he turned and walked into his office to set the essays down, not in the mood to grade them right now. He would summon them to his room when he was ready. When he had his fill.

There was a roar from the chest and he turned to face it. Of course the auror would eventually do that again. He kept fighting the imperius curse, it was amusing to say the least.

With a flick of the wand he let the chest open to be hounded by screaming the instant the lid lifted, "You stay away from Hermione! From Harry! From all of the students! Do you hear me! Keep away from them and hope I never get out of here! Even if you kill me I'll make sure the aurors find you! You sick-"

"Enough!" he pointed the wand down, tightning the grip of the curse. His screams were loud, they had been getting too loud. If someone heard them he would be caught for sure. Before he could fulfill his part for his Lord's return. That was unacceptable. "Keep quiet," he snarled, "and don't think of trying to make my job more difficult by rattling your cage. It won't help you in the least. In fact, whenever you pull a stunt like this I think I'll punish Hermione for your sins."

The auror below had gone deathly quiet now. Both from the curse and his threats, obviously. As his eyes had rage in them, but also concern for the one student Barty had completely in his clutches.

"If I didn't need your hair for the potion I would have killed you by now. So you continue thinking you can save Hermione and stop me from delivering Harry to _him_." It was one of the few times he had divulged his plans to the auror, but right now it was fine, it would have the desired effect to keep him quiet. The tight hold of the curse helped as well.

He closed the chest with a thud, aware of the steady gaze on him before then. Now Alastor would have to just watch through the eye, and Barty would make sure he saw everything.

When he opened the door to the closet though his eyes narrowed as her head shot up, eyes wide. He could see her eyes... and the blindfold he had put over them was on the ground. Parting his fingers Alastor's eye slipped from them to hit the ground. If anything it would confuse the auror, give him a few seconds to put everything he saw together. First it was the students of today, messing around in his class of all things. Then it was Alastor trying to break through the imperius curse. Now it was her.

Her hands now infront of her rather than behind, legs curled beneath in her sitting position. Even her mouth was closed. His eyes drew down, finding the balled up cloth wet from saliva. Apparently she either hadn't taken his warning seriously, or she seriously thought that she would have enough time to get out of all her restraints and try to escape. Why she even bothered was beyond him.

There was rips in the cloth around her wrists, from teeth if the thin string of fabric near her mouth was any indicator. Only a shred was left at the middle, if she pulled her wrists hard enough it would rip apart. Her wrists would be free then, but there was still that metal around her ankle. How she had planned to get out of that he didn't know. What he did know was he wasn't in the mood to play these games with her right now.

"What did I tell you?" he asked, barely managing to keep his voice calm as he stepped into the room. He stopped short infront of her, eyes still wide and her mouth parting to close repeatedly before a sound came out. "Do you even remember what I told you?" he leaned down, fingers grasping at her chin when her head started to turn away. "Repeat to me what I said to you the other day."

His hand turned her head so she had to look at him as he studied her expression, fresh tears were glistening down her cheeks. "If... if you came in today and found a single thing out of place," there was a sharp intake of breath, "you would punish me."

"Correct, now answer this for me. How many things are out of place?"

She blinked, "I... everything is out of place," her eyes darted down, "the blindfold, the... everything, except-" she rattled the chain around her leg.

His gaze darted to the metal before moving back to her. "I said I would punish you if I found a single thing out of place, and almost everything is not how I left it. What sort of punishment do you think that merits?" as he spoke he was already getting ideas, trailing his other hand down her leg, to move his fingers back up along her inner thigh.

"I-it was uncomfortable. I just wanted to take it off for a little bit, it was too dark for me to see where anything landed-" his hand was no longer gripping her chin as it landed on her cheek and she shrieked, words cut off. A lie that she probably thought was clever.

"Is that what I'm suppose to believe?"

"N-no." that answer made him look at her curiously. Was she finally going to stop playing this game with him? "It was too much. I couldn't see, that... cloth, the one in my mouth. I-i think some of my blood landed on it, I could taste it. My leg was still bleeding, you-you never healed it." No, he hadn't. But he had known it wasn't deep enough for her to bleed out so he hadn't cared to. "I just wanted to stop the bleeding, but I needed to see what I was doing, so I removed the blindfold... it didn't help. When I tried to stop it with my robe, my fingers slipped along the cut. It didn't hurt though. Just like when you... cut me. It was like that, and-"

He pushed his fingers against her jaw and she became quiet, still staring at him with wide eyes. Filled to the brim with terror, confusion, and something... devious. He chuckled. "You didn't do all that to feel what I made you feel, did you?" Barty wanted to see just how far she would go with this act.

"I... yes." The dart tint to her cheeks was a nice touch. Fake, but still something he could appreciate. "That... what you did. It was... I've never felt anything like it." That part might be true. "I was just trying to feel it again, that's why I was getting my hands free." Speaking of hands... he drummed his fingers along her upper inner thigh, moving them further up to curl into the edge of cotton. There was a flicker of fear in her eyes when he started to pull it down but she continued talking, "The pain-no, not pain. There was no pain, it was like you said. I didn't feel it. It-"

"Hermione," he interrupted whatever speech she was trying to put together in her mind. "if that was true, then why is it there's no cloth around your leg?" he wrapped his fingers back around her chin and a whimper slipped from them. "To stop the bleeding before the blood clotted on it's own you would have needed a cloth. Besides the blindfold and gag all the other strips are where they're suppose to be." partially because he had set them out of her reach. He moved his fingers from her chin to her cheek were new tears were running down the skin once again, "I may have a... special tolerance for you, but don't try this again. Don't think I can't see through you, or your performance. The next time you try this I'm not going to play along in the least. Got it?"

There was a nod of her head, eyes looking back to the ground now. No more twisted lies were coming from her lips to try and defend herself and he smirked. "Don't worry," his fingers twisted in the cloth as he pulled it over her feet before letting go. "I found it amusing." he paused, "What was it you said?" his fingers moved back up her leg, "'It didn't hurt,' and 'never felt anything like it'? I know of a few ways to make you feel it again. Would you like that?" her head shook this time, betraying the lies she had spoken. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to her ear, "I've decided on your punishment."

When his fingers slipped inside their mark her hips bucked and he was quick to hold them down with his own weight. He let go of her chin, his hand soon wrapped around the hilt of the blade that flew through the open door. "No." the single word made him turn the blade in his hand and move it up to where the sound had come from. Her eyes widened but he moved the blade to the side, letting it slip along her cheek, to watch how she seemed to lean into the blade when it made the cut, how she tightened around the digits inside of her.

He grinned, it was almost too good. Barty moved the blade to her other cheek, making an identical cut, watching how she pressed her skin to the blade while also trying to withdraw. It would seem she was trying to fight the pleasure her body took from what would otherwise be interpreted as pain. He would have to make sure she stopped doing that. With a twist of his fingers her eyelids fluttered, for a second she was leaning towards the blade before fighting the urge again.

Barty decided to take mercy on that part of her, moving the blade down to the cuts from before, he ran in right over the middle one that had started to close up. There was a strangled moan above him and he slowly started to pump his fingers in her, noting the barrier his fingetips pressed against. That was something else he could take advantage of.

The blade was moved over all the other cuts he had made before, each time he got a longer moan from her, she clenched tighter around him. The way her form beneath him stopped bucking up as much to try and throw him off. He grinned as he made a new cut with the blade, down her arm, through the sleeve of her shirt. In one long slow stroke. Her moan was just as long and he moved the blade to slice right along the fresh blood to have twin trails running down the skin, soaking through the fabric. Moving the blade back up he turned it on the side, slipping the edge beneath the skin that was now outlined. When he moved the blade down it was fast, tearing right through the top layer of skin.

Hermione let out a scream beneath him, tears running down her face faster than he had seen before. That scream soon divulged into a moan and her body shook beneath him. He leaned down as her lips moved, to hear the encouraging little moans as she rode out the orgasm. "again... please, _please_."

His lips drew into a smirk. That's exactly what he had needed to hear.


	7. Chapter 7

**Suspending Consciousness - 7**

The room was quiet, more so than usual. Normally there was something making noise, like the chest in the corner that hadn't moved so much as an inch since the day had started.

Barty turned towards it, still seated on his chair. Either the curse was too strong for Moody today or he wasn't trying to fight out of it. That last possibility couldn't be it though, the auror had tried to break through his curse every day. He could feel it when Alastor gave a particular hard shove against his spell. Not a single shove had been made since yesterday.

He opened the chest with a wave of his hand, waiting a good minute for a single word to be shouted. When none came he drummed his fingers on his desk, impatient. "Have you died on me Alastor? Should I go bury you in the forest?"

It was quiet for another solid minute. "Is that where you plan to put my body? In the forest to be chewed up by some animal before anyone realizes who you are? So they can't recognize who I am?"

"No." Barty picked up his wand, turning it in his hands as he spoke, "I've changed my mind."

"Have you?" Alastor might have asked the question but he didn't sound like he cared for the answer.

"Who else is going to tell Dumbledore and the Order that Harry was in danger from the moment he came back to school? That it was their fault for being so incompetent and blind to the truth that Voldemort came back? Who's going to tell Harry and his friends what happened to Hermione when the Golemn falls apart?" he smirked, "With out you, the messenger, they won't even know if she's alive or dead. They won't know what's happened to her or that she's not even the person they remember by the time I'm done with her."

"What happens when you're finished with her? Are you going to kill her?"

There was that concern again. "That's none of your concern." he waited up until the moment a word started to form from the chest before continuing, "Though, she's a lot more entertaining than you. You did see that last night, didn't you?" Barty let out a longing sigh, "Actually begging for me to flay her own skin from her body. Moving towards the blade instead of away. Did you count how many times she screamed?"

An enraged scream came from the chest and Barty laughed as it formed words, "Let her go you bloody sadist! It's Harry you want for your ritual! Hermione has nothing to do with it! Just obliviate the memories from her and let her go!" Obliviate... there's something that could be interesting, provide a fresh spin on things. "I'll find her if you don't! The Order will find her! And then you won't have a 'toy' to play with! Do you hear me?"

He grinned, "Oh, I hear you. Thank you for the wonderful suggestion by the way. I think I will obliviate her." A series of incomprehensible screams filled the air and he took a moment to cast a few more muffling charms around the room before simply listening to the rage of the auror.

The screams finally subsided and he questioned his prisoner, "Do you expect her to piece together why parts of her memory are missing if I did let her go? So she'll remember that every time she came here her memory is just a blank slate? Do you expect her to tell Dumbledore and for him to find you before the tournament ends? Before I deliver Harry to Voldemort?" he finally set his wand down, looking at the grooves in the wood of his desk, "I'm not going to let them find you until the deed is done and then... well, you already know what comes next."

"Give her fake memories then, just let her go." He studied the grains of wood from his desk as the auror continued, "I'll chase you all over Britain if you don't."

"I wouldn't expect anything less." He swiped some dust from the edge of the desk while closing the chest once again. This time there was no shouts as it shut with a clang, even still he knew the auror was furious with him.

Barty picked up his wand and walked out of the room over to the wall that hid the hallway that took him to his room. With the door shut behind him he casted some more muffling charms before moving across the room to the closet door. He fetched the eye from his pocket before turning the knob and pushing the door open with his boot.

Hermione was curled up in the center of the room, hands still bound above her ankles, knees drawn up to her chest, chin resting on her left knee, staring sightlessly at the ground due to the blindfold around her eyes. Her head only moved slightly in the direction of the door when it opened and Barty smirked. It seemed she had finally gotten the message of, 'not moving an inch.'

He dropped the eye, letting it roll around the floor as he summoned a dish from the pantry and walked into the room. Barty knelt down to put the plastic on the floor, leaning forward to loosen the cloth around her wrists before taking it off then pulling the fabric down from her eyes so it hung loosely around her neck. Sitting back he watched as her hands reached out and snatched food from the plate to scarf it down shortly after.

When the plate was clean he vanished it back to the cabinet, summoning a plastic cup with water that was quickly drained before vanishing that as well. She was looking at him now, blood still staining her cheeks from last night. "Bartemius Crouch Junior, that's your name isn't it?"

His eyebrow raised slightly but then he smirked, "Yes, find that out all on your own in here?"

"You killed your father," he cocked his head to the side, wondering why that was significant. "The ministry official you mentioned, his name was Bartemius Crouch and he had a son." she paused, and he watched as her tongue slipped out to dart over her lips, wetting the dry surface, "You were suppose to be dead."

"I'm not."

"Obviously," her eyes narrowed, "You crawled right back out of hell."

He couldn't hold in his laugh, reaching forward his fingers slipped around the blindfold and gave a tug to slip the cloth apart, pulling it from her neck. He pressed his fingers to the hollow of her throat, feeling her heart beat rapidly beneath the skin. When she started to pull away he looked up, halting her movement as she stared back. "I don't think I've told you before what I did while you were knocked out in the classroom. Want to hear about it? Or should I just show you?" From the way her heart was beating faster now she didn't.

With her not saying a word though he leaned forward, moving her hair over her shoulder so he could press his lips to her neck. His hand moved down to settle over her heart so he could feel it pump blood faster through his veins as he continued his actions. He ran his tongue along the flesh, pressing his teeth to her skin momentarily.

A hand was suddenly at his shoulder, pushing him away, trying to anyways. He just pressed forward, nipping at her skin. Another hand joined the first and he bit down to hear her cry out, fingers sliding over his shoulders now. He traced the wound with his tongue, giving another soft shallow bite when she started pushing again to feel her pulling him forward. In a few seconds she would be pushing at him again though, to get him off her. "Stop." At her request he chuckled running his tongue over the bite marks to collect some of the blood there before allowing himself to be pushed away.

He moved toward her a second later, grinning when she moved back from him, "Stop moving." he applied preassure on her chest to pin her down, leaning over her. All the while looking at her lips, though when he bent down toward them her head turned from side-to-side to keep away. "I don't see what your problem is Hermione," he reached up to grasp her chin, to keep her still. "You've tasted it before."

"What?" her eyes were wide now, almost hysterical.

"Your blood." he hissed before pressing his lips to hers, forcing her lips apart so the blood he had kept in his mouth could seep through her teeth and into her own. Once he didn't taste a trace of it left he pulled away, not to surprised when she started hitting at him with her fists.

"No, no, no!" With a silent _accio_ his wand was in his hand and the beating on his chest stopped. Her glare still held though. "You... sick bastard. I've never -"

"'That wasn't the worst thing I've tasted.' Remember?" her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out, "I should probably also mention that no one is looking for you as you might have thought. You see, that potion you drank created a golem, a perfect copy of you. That golem is walking around the halls of Hogwarts, acting and responding to everything just like how you would. So in the school's eyes, you aren't even missing. The only other person that knows the truth is Moody, but like I said before, he's stuck in a box."

He lowered his wand to touch at her thigh aware of her shaking her head back and forth, mouth still moving but not quite working.

"You know, you're not being very cooperative today." Barty said, pressing the tip of his wand into the day old cut, watching her flinch and whine at the same time. That made him smile for a moment, but she was still trying to move away from him, completely denying anything he said. "_Crucio_." she released a soft moan as the curse was focused on the cut of her thigh, leg twitching. It was the only movement that suggested she was trying to get away.

He listened to her moans, waiting for them to linger on the air, before pulling the wand away and stopping the spell. A whine came from her though when he looked over tears streaked down her face. Barty waited for the whimpers to subside before repeating the process, targeting a different cut, limb each time.

By the end he wanted to have her begging again, all so he could leave her in the closet, still on the edge of pleasure.


	8. Chapter 8

**Suspending Consciousness - 8**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Alesana**

After the cannon went off and Harry disappeared into the maze along with all the other Champions there was a lot of waiting. Distant shouts of spells could be heard but Ron couldn't see what was happening, just like everyone else he was blind as to what went on inside the maze.

The first task had been more exciting in that way, actually being able to see them fight with the dragons. Mostly anyways, Harry had flown out of the arena during the task and when he came back the dragon was no longer behind him. Apparently it had fallen into the gorge next to the castle after running into the bridge. Though he had only heard about that half an hour after it had happened.

Ron hadn't seen much during the second task either, being the person Harry was to recover hadn't allowed for it. Not that he cared then, or now for that matter. Fleur's brief kiss was seared into his mind, even if he had still been trying to make some sense of what was happening at the time.

He sighed, it already felt like he had been sitting down for hours.

"What do you think Ron?" he glanced over his shoulder where Fred was sitting behind him, "Cedric, Harry, or Krum? Fleur isn't much of a Champion."

"Yes, and make a bet to." George added.

"No," Ron said, frowning at his brothers and their betting scheme to get money for a joke shop. Honestly, weren't there better ways to go about getting the money? "You're not taking my money."

"We only take your money if you lose the bet Ronnie." he narrowed his eyes at their use of his mother's nickname for him. "Come on, my money is on Harry."

"Well so is mine, so there's no bet happening."

"Hermione-"

"No." her reply was instant and Ron grinned as she turned to glare at the two, "You're both being ridiculous. They could get seriously injured in there and your making bets?"

"Worried for your sweet Krum?" Fred piped up, "Rita Skeeter-"

"Has mastered the art of being annoying. Do you wish to be apprenticed to her to learn her secrets?"

Ron laughed as Fred had shut up, staring at Hermione. "Nice one."

"No, no. That wasn't very nice at all." Fred said while faking a look of hurt, "That was terribly mean of you."

"Go choke back on your tears then." Ron sniggered at her reply, not missing on the fact that Hermione had taken those words from Rita Skeeter herself.

"I'm drowning in them!" Fred wailed, flailing his hands about and making the students around them burst into giggling fits. There was a speck of red that reflected in his eyes in the next second and Ron turned to see red sparks had gone up into the air. One of the champions was in danger. "I bet a sickle that it's Fleur." Fred said, having forgotten he was suppose to be drowning in his own tears now that something had visibly happened in the maze.

Ron just shrugged. He couldn't really deny that his brother was probably right. Harry had done well in the other tasks, and he believed his friend could finish the tournament. Cedric was skilled and had tied first with his friend. Krum just didn't strike him as the sort to give up. Fleur was the first that came to mind after what had happened during the second task. She was just the obvious choice.

It only took a few minutes for their suspicions to be confirmed. Fleur has been retrieved from the maze by her Headmistress and told to sit down. Her school mates were surrounding her now, whispering consoling words to their Champion.

"Sickle?"

"I didn't bet." Ron looked back to the maze with that excitement over. The wind seemed to be blowing feircly inside, from where he sat he could see the maze shift. It was no wonder Harry hadn't come back yet. An ordinary maze was bad enough. A moving maze? That was a nightmare. The wind had calmed again and he glanced over the maze, seeing nothing significant he turned away.

His gaze fell on Hermione and his brow crinkled from the way her lips were moving as if speaking, but he couldn't hear a word. "Shut up." he hissed at his brothers so he could hear what she was saying rather than their pointless chatter about bets, curious if she was praying for Harry - or Krum's - safe return. Though he didn't care for the latter's safety.

"-_atia pana la moarte atunci cand vanturile canta_," he frowned, that didn't sound like a prayer, and he couldn't figure out what the language was. The words sent a shiver down his spine, and not a good one. "_Padurea plange_,"

He reached out to touch her shoulder, "Hermione? You okay?"

"_Si strica de sange pe pamant_." he practically jumped from his seat when her shoulder suddenly dipped down and away from his hand. It wasn't like she had just breathed and lowered her shoulders without thinking. It was more like... like she was crumbling.

"Hermione?" he repeated her name louder this time, trying to get her attention. Her lips had stopped moving but she simply looked ahead as if she couldn't hear him. "Hermione," Ron grabbed for her arm to gasp and withdraw his hand a moment later.

Her whole arm had disintegrated at his touch and he just stared, aghast. Raising his eyes just slightly they met hers, now red as blood... no. It _was_ blood. It was leaking from her eyes to run down her cheeks, hitting her clothes after sliding from her skin. With each drop a hole was burned through the clothes and began to spread, by the time they were gone there wasn't a centimeter of skin anywhere beneath, or muscle for that matter. It was bone, dark and bruised instead of white. Then that was gone as well, crumbling into pieces no bigger than dust and Hermione no longer sat on the bench. A pile of what looked to be ash lay in her place, specks of blood mixed in.

A blood curling scream came from below and Ron was finally able to turn his shocked gaze down and towards Fleur who had made the sound. His gaze halted on Harry though who was... leaning over Cedric. The other boy wasn't moving.

Dumbledore was suddenly at his side... Dumbledore... Ron opened his mouth, trying to force words out but Harry's cries were louder than his soft whispers for help. "No! No!"

"For God's sake, Dumbledore, what's happened?" The ministry official, Fudge was now there as well.

"He's back. He's back. Voldemort's back." Ron could practically feel his blood turn cold. "Cedric, he asked me to bring his body back. I couldn't leave him, not there."

"It's all right, Harry. It's all right." Dumbledore was speaking and Ron urged his words to go up a notch, to be heard. "He's home. You both are."

"Keep everybody in their seats!" Fudge called to the staff before going back to the body, whispering, but the place was almost silent not making it hard to hear what he did say, "The body must be moved, Dumbledore. There are too many people."

"Let me through!" Mr. Diggory came into his field of vision now, "That's my son!" shouting over the corpse of Cedric, "That's my boy! It's my boy!" he dissolved into cries.

It was silent for a bit and Ron shouted, "Dumbledore!" desperation was laced through the name, probably why the Headmaster turned so quickly from the scene of death. "It's Hermione... she... she just..."

The ashes floated up Dumbledore stepping forward after flicking his wand, as if studying it, "Golem." he whispered softly, then turned quickly to his own staff. "Minerva, Severus," The Professors were following the Headmaster, soon gone from the stadium.

It left him to look at Harry, no words needed to be said, he was going to follow them. Ron shoved his way down to meet him, dodging the outstretched arms of Professors and Ministry officials.

The two were soon running back to the castle, through the hallways, following the hurried steps ahead of them. They only scurried to a stop when a door was blasted from it's hinges. "Alastor!" Dumbledore called into the office and Ron peered around the corner to see an eye spinning madly ontop of a desk, to see Dumbledore look at that same eye. The eye stopped, looking at something he couldn't see from his angle. Severus suddenly had his wand out and all that could be heard for the next few seconds was the clink of metal wheels turning, of an object opening repeatedly, the sound of metal on stone echoing through the air. "You all right, Alastor?"

"I'm sorry, Albus."

Sorry? Why was he sorry? Why had Dumbledore gone straight here to find Alastor? He had been their Professor all semester. What could he possibly know about Hermione? The golem that Dumbledore had whispered of?

"We'll get you up in a moment." Some words were said, a spell Ron didn't know then there was a thump as if a body was slouching in a chair. "What happened? Who did this?"

Who... there was someone else? "Is Harry okay?"

"He's fine, mostly." Ron glanced to his friend Harry, he didn't look fine. He looked tired, angry, and sad all at once. His friend looked torn between a billion different emotions.

"Voldemort is back then?"

"Yes."

A sigh came from Alastor. "I failed."

"That's not your fault."

"No, he said it was yours... Bartemius Crouch Junior was using polyjuice potion this whole time to look like me. He... who's out there?"

Dumbledore turned so quickly that Ron let out a yelp when he caught his gaze. Harry was quick to step from around the corner. "What about Hermione? She had detention with you, but it was really the imposter wasn't it? Where is she?"

"Harry-" Minerva hissed.

"It's fine." Ron stepped out from the corner now as well so he could see the four people in the room, his eyes landing on Moody who looked to be wearing his pajamas. "I don't know where she is."

Those words finally pushed Ron's own questions from his throat, "How can you say it's fine when you don't know where she is? Why was there a golem at the tournament instead of Hermione? How long was that _thing_ in her place? Where could she be if she's not here? Where is the imposte-" A hand clapped on his shoulder and he fell silent, ignoring the stares of the Professors at the two of them. His own gaze was locked on Alastor.

"Hermione... Albus, he kept her in the closet of his room. She may still be there but... I doubt it." The flare of hope that started in his chest died out quickly.

"Severus, go check." Ron didn't even glance at the Potions Professor as he stepped from the office and into the classroom.

"He was here to deliver me to Voldemort, wasn't he? Why would he have any interest in Hermione?" From the sound of it Harry was sick to his stomach, blaming himself once again. Ron reached out to steady his friend, just like Harry had done for him not too long ago. "Did she him in his true form?"

"No. She would have just been obliviated if that had happened..." Alastor's face twisted into one of anger before he turned to the Headmaster, "I can tell you what you need to know later, but not in front of them, he wants that."

"She's my friend, I need to know as well." Harry snapped and Ron was inclined to agree.

Professor McGonagall looked sharply at the two of them, "That is enough. I'm taking the both of you back to the commons. Alastor needs to rest, not be bombarded with questions by the two of you." Minerva strode forward, grabbing an arm from the both of them and began pulling them down the hall.

Before they rounded the corner Ron saw Severus back at the office door, a piece of fabric lay in his hands, bloodied. "She wasn't there Albus, but Barty had been keeping her there, torturing her." An enraged scream came from Ron and then he couldn't see or hear anything coming from the room. He was just aware of Harry shaking in anger beside him. If he found this man first, he would strangle him.

**The conclusion to Suspending Consciousness. What a dark little journey it was... And thank you for reading it, as twisted as it was a times.**

**I'm thinking of doing a a sequel to this. Yay or Nay? Tell me below.**

_It's happening again, it's happening again._

_I can see it's not the first time you have come and taken her from me._

_Rest assured it's not the last time, I'm going to set you free._

_You took her once, shame on you._

_You took her twice, shame on me._

_- In Her Tomb By The Sounding Sea by Alesana_


End file.
